If I Were the Author
by icefire13
Summary: Fairy Tail...icefire's way. no annoying Lucy, and revenge on Juvia for daring to even think she can steal my Gray! Saki, a young magician on her way to the mountains, is saved from being mugged by two boys of the Fairy Tail Guild. They take her back to the guild where she challenges Erza and joins Fairy Tail. follows basic storyline w/ some changes. Edit: MARY SUE WARNING!
1. Tokyo

**Yoyo it's jojo! so I have begun a fanfic on the anime series Fairy Tail (which I do not own but wish I did) and I have not seen the whole thing yet so NO SPOILERS and sorry if there are plotholes or missing information. also, the first chapter is very crappy but it gets better I promise! please r&r!**

Chapter One

It was after nightfall, and the backstreets of Tokyo after nightfall was not a good place to be. Saki picked up her pace, dark brown hair streaming behind her, flat-cut bangs sweeping against her forehead. She clutched her backpack strap tightly, knuckles white as she glanced around herself.

The moon shone wanly through the barrier of clouds that covered the sky, and few stars were visible due to the neon lights of Tokyo. Through the din of cars and busses rushing by, Saki could make out the scratch of claws on metal – a sure sign that there were rats lurking inside the trash bins that lined the alley.

"Hey, you, watcha got in the backpack?" A male voice loomed from the darkness, followed a moment later by its hulking owner; a street thug.

"Nonna your business." She muttered, slinging her backpack over both arms so as to keep a better hold on it. That was a mistake. Someone from behind her grabbed the backpack and jerked her backwards, causing her to hit the concrete flat on her butt. She quickly yanked her backpack out of the hand's grasp and got to her feet. The one had become three and Saki scowled; one dolt she could take, but three was a different story.

But there was no time to be wasted. She punched one in the gut and kicked another in the groin and before they knew what was happening, both were doubled over and Saki saw her chance, running towards the end of the alleyway. She had forgotten about the third thug. He shoved her roughly against the wall, easily pinning her wrists down to her sides and standing on her feet so she couldn't punch or kick.

"Get the backpack." He growled to his fallen comrades. The one she had done stomach damage to got to his feet while the other continued to lay there in agony. The guy picked up her backpack which had fallen off during the struggle and began to rifle through it.

"Food!" he cried gleefully, "And money!"

"How much money?"

He quickly counted. "Almost two hundred jewel!"

"Good." The big one commended. He let go of Saki and shoved her towards the other two who leered at her – both had recovered by now. "Coupla bruises should do it. Call it your reward for being good dogs." And he walked off with her backpack.

"We'll take care of it, Greg!"

"Yeah, you can count on us to get the job done. She won't be back this way any time soon!"

The first and second punches came at her shoulder, leaving her whole arm numb. She tried to fight back but there were two of them and one of her, and the third punch caught her on the jaw, clacking her teeth together painfully. Her knee buckled as one of them kicked the inside of her leg and now she was grounded with no way of winning.

Suddenly, a white streak cut across her vision, striking one thug in the temple. A blast of fire singed the other's hair, nearly burning his scalp and he yelped and ran.

Saki weakly turned around, knowing there would only be more gang members to try and fight. Two boys stood behind her, one with pink hair, the other shirtless and she stumbled forward before tripping over the grounded guy's leg and seeing the pavement rush up to meet her, and though her elbows took most of the weight of her fall, her head still hit the concrete with a sickening _crack._ And then everything went black.

….

"You think she'll wake up anytime soon?"

"Can't say. She took a hard hit from that fall."

Saki cracked her eyes open. A pink blob was to the right of her, a darker blob beside it, and white blob to her left. Two of the blobs resolved themselves into familiar forms; the boys from the alley!

The girl yelled and leaped up, ignoring the dizziness and pain in her head, and set on the two of them, striking out blindly in their general direction. She felt her foot connect and somebody swore, and then elbows were hooked in hers, holding her back, and she blacked out again.

…

The second time she came to, there was only one person there, and it was a woman in a white lab coat, with her back turned towards her. Saki coughed and tried to sit up and the woman turned around, pushing her glasses back up onto her nose.

"Ah, I see you've finally decided to wake up. No, no! Don't try to sit up, lay back down again, that's it. Now then, how are you feeling? You gave us quite a scare when you got up yesterday." She added sternly, "We'd quite prefer if you'd refrain from permanently injuring Natsu or Gray. They are antagonizing at times but we need them here."

For a few moments, Saki was confused, then it all came rushing back and the questions came tumbling out.

"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on? The alley. Who're Natsu and Gray? And the gang. How long have I been out? What was the white streak and the fire? Does anyone know what happened to my backpa–"

"Shh." The woman cut her off. "One thing at a time, dear, one thing at a time. Now then, let us start with you. You were attacked in an alley in Tokyo, correct?"

"Uh-huh."

"Natsu and Gray are wizards, as am I. They are who saved you and your backpack from the alley and brought you here, to me. I am the head doctor here, where you've been out for three days."

"Where's here?" Saki interjected impatiently.

"This is our infirmary. You're in the Fairy Tail Guild."

**thanks for reading, plz review. next chapter will be longer and better.**

**- icefire out**


	2. The Guild

**Halooo! 2nd chapter of If I Were the Author. as promised, longer and better than the previous one.**

**review replies! (yay! I have reviews :3)**

**TheRedHeadGuy: thank you much ^w^! I have red hair too. red hair rocks awesomeness :3**

**MisturRainbow: thank you much! I agree, it was a crappy summary but I had problems with the 384 character rule, plus I'm making this up as I go along, so even I don't know what's gonna happen. (suggestions are welcome from anyone). As for Lucy... personally, I find her to be an annoying witch (but not with the "w") and it's ****_my_**** story I can call her annoying if I want to. besides, she doesn't show up in here anyway. my favorite saying is: If the shoe don't fit then it ain't your shoe!**

Chapter 2

"…Fairy Tail…Guild?" Saki blinked, then remembered that Fairy Tail was one of the ten wizard guilds scattered across Japan. She'd be west of Tokyo, somewhere outside of Urawa if memory served her.

"That's right, the Fairy Tail Guild. You're in a small town called Yarigawa. We're a bit west of Tokyo, but the boys didn't know what to do with you, seeing as you were in such awful condition when they picked you up, so they brought you here, to me." The doctor answered.

"And who're you?"

"My name is Nakahara Kimi, but 'Doctor' will do fine – it's what everyone calls me anyway. And what might _your_ name be?"

"I'm Okinawa Saki." She replied, "It's nice to meet you, um, Doctor-sama."

Doctor laughed. "You can drop the honorifics, Saki. We're so tight here we don't bother ourselves with them unless we're addressing the Master."

"Well, thank you for taking care of me while I was out, but I really should be going now, I don't want to make more trouble for you." Saki said, starting to get up. The doctor glared at her from over the rims of her glasses and her voice became stern again.

"You most certainly will not! You've been unconscious for three days with nothing to eat, and besides, you wouldn't want to go out looking like that, would you?" she added slyly. Saki looked down at herself and yelped. She was completely naked, not to mention bruised from where the thugs had hit her. Her face turned a superb shade of scarlet and she bit her lip in embarrassment.

"Sorry but I wouldn't let you contaminate my good sheets with those filthy clothes you were wearing, and I had to treat your bruises anyway. You'll be wanting a shower, I think. You can use that bathroom right there, and there're towels, washcloths, soap, and shampoo behind the sliding mirror. I'll see if Kana or Mira has any old clothes you can borrow – you're about as tall as they are and they should fit you all right."

A loud grumbling from Saki's stomach brought her attention to her hunger, which, up until this point, had been screaming to no avail for food.

"I'll see if they have anything edible left in the kitchens, too." Doctor grinned, slipping out of the room while Saki entered the bathroom.

…..

"There's nothing much else I can do for you." Doctor said, shaking her head, "Since you really woke up yesterday, everything in your body seems to be in full working order, and your bruises are almost healed."

"Thank you." Saki grinned, "You're really a great doctor. I feel better than I did even before I got attacked."

She had been awake since yesterday, quickly recovering with a shower and a hot meal. Now, she stood up, then turned back around to face Doctor. "I forgot to ask, what sort of magic do you use?"

"Me? What do you think? I use healing magic. That's why I'm a doctor. Now scat. You've been in this room for four days. You need some fresh air." The woman replied, shooing her out the door.

Saki felt self-conscious, wearing Mira's old clothes as she entered the main room of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. It was loud, but not too loud, boisterous, but not too boisterous. A silver-haired woman bounced up to her, clad in a simple pink dress.

"Oh, you must be Okinawa Saki!" she squealed, throwing her arms around the girl, "I'm Mira, and mostly I just organize things here at the guild. Come on, I'll introduce you to everybody and show you around!"

Saki was given no chance to reply as the bubbly young woman grabbed her by the wrist and pointed out everyone in the room, from Kana and Elfman at the bar to Louis, who looked like a balloon with a head and a paint pallet. She ended with two guys that Saki knew already.

"And this is Natsu and this is Gray." She promptly broke off as someone called to her from across the room. The three of them were left standing awkwardly until the pink haired one – Natsu, finally spoke.

"So…you're all good now?"

"Uh-huh, yeah. Doctor fixed me up. Good as new, haha." She giggled nervously, something she immediately resented herself for – she hated girls who did that.

"Hey." Gray leaned his elbows on the counter behind him, "You don't hafta be so nervous around us, okay. We're all friends here. We got your back."

"Oh…thanks. Thanks for saving me and all." Again, she hated the words. _Saving me._ She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself so she added, "But just so you know, I had it all under control."

"'Course you did." It was Natsu this time, "It's just that we did the controlling for you." He grinned and Saki looked down, where she noticed that his wrist was rather purple in a spot.

"Did I do that?" she gestured to the wrist. "Sorry. I just thought…since you…because…sorry." She fumbled.

"Yeah. Where'd you learn to kick like that, anyway?! You bruised my wrist bones and now I can't make fire on this hand!"

"Take it easy, Natsu." Gray admonished, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! Don't roll your eyes at me, Santa Claus!"

"Don't call me Santa Claus, Chili Breath!"

"What was that?!"

"I said Chili Breath! Or are you deaf?"

"Oh, you're asking for it now, snowman! I'll beat you, bruised wrist or not!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm an ice mage, not a snow mage!"

"Don't worry." Mira was back again, "They bicker like this all the time. But they really are best friends."

"Boys! Cut it out!" it was a different voice this time, one Saki hadn't heard before. The funny thing was, Natsu and Gray stopped shouting at once, and the entire hall fell silent. She dared to turn around.

An armor-clad woman stood before her, she had red hair, brown eyes, and a frown. She was not very tall – about a half-inch shorter than Saki, but her demeanor was intimidating, nonetheless. Her eyes flicked from Natsu and Gray to Saki, who tried to appear undaunted, meeting the other woman's eyes.

"You are Okinawa Saki, correct?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"I am Erza Scarlet, S-class wizard of Fairy Tail. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The woman replied before she turned dismissively, red hair flipping behind her.

Saki couldn't tell what made her do it. Perhaps it was the desire to prove herself, or maybe it was just that she already didn't like Erza. It could have been respect.

"Is your armor not too heavy to carry around all day?" she asked, "Or is it only to show-off?" she allowed a certain amount of taunting to carry in her voice, and there was a sharp intake of breath from the bystanders.

Erza whipped around quicker than Saki would've thought possible and the younger found a sword tickling her throat. A very real sword.

"_Nothing_ I do is for show. And you will not speak so disrespectfully of my magic again." Erza said quietly through gritted teeth.

"Funny," Saki replied, immediately knowing that it was the wrong thing to say when one finds oneself on the wrong end of a sword. But it was too late to back out now. "I would've thought an S-class wizard would've had more control over herself."

"You had better watch your words, Saki. You should not presume to berate one who is far more advanced than yourself in such a subject."

"It's true." Someone whispered near her, "Erza practices self-control exercises every morning."

"Then." Saki replied icily, "I challenge you to a wizard's dual."

Commotion broke out in the guild hall.

"Not a good idea, not a good idea." Gray advised. Natsu was looking a bit panicky.

"Man, we brought her back and this is what we get?"

"She just got _out_ of the infirmary!" a flying blue cat wailed, "Why would she want to go back in again?!"

"Erza you can't! She didn't mean it" Elfman yelled. But when she answered, Erza's voice was steely.

"I accept your challenge." Silence fell once more. "As the challenged, I reserve the right to choose when and where the battle is held, and the rules."

"Agreed." Saki answered.

"Then meet me outside the guild hall in thirty minutes. Anything legal goes." Erza decided.

"Deal."

"Whoa! You didn't tell us you were a wizard!" Natsu exclaimed after Erza had left. "What kind of magic do you use?"

"You'll see." Saki smirked. "But tell me, what are Erza's weaknesses?"

Gray and Natsu exchanged a glance.

"She doesn't have any." Another voice rumbled, "But a real man wouldn't ask about their enemy's weaknesses." It was Elfman, towering over her.

Mira popped up again, "Saki isn't a man, little brother. Besides, she was only being strategic. I bet you guys are coming up with an amazing battle plan! We shouldn't disturb them, Big Elf."

"L-little brother?" Saki squeaked, wondering how the two could possibly be related, besides the silver hair.

"That's right." Natsu answered, "Mira used to be a real kick-ass punk, they had another little sister, too. But Lasanna…"

"Oh, I forgot." Gray, interjected quickly. Saki didn't miss the concerned glance he shot at his friend, "We didn't get your backpack to you, Saki. Let's go get it. Um, Natsu, maybe you should stay here to…make sure Kana doesn't drink too much."

"Whatever." Natsu shrugged as the flying blue cat landed on his shoulder.

"I'll make sure _Natsu_ doesn't drink too much!" it giggled.

"I don't drink, I'm underage!" Natsu shouted. Gray smiled.

"Thanks, Happy."

"Sooo…what was that all about?" Saki asked as they travelled down the corridor.

"There are two things you shouldn't mention in front of Natsu if you can help it, and those are his father, and Lasanna." Gray replied as they entered a storage room where Saki immediately went over to her backpack.

She slung the backpack over her shoulder and turned back around, only to see Gray stripped down to his underwear.

"AIEEEEE!" she squealed, and prepared to use magic. She'd thought Gray had been a nice guy, leaving Natsu to recover, but obviously he had had different ideas. Gray looked down at himself.

"Ah! No-no, it's not what you think, I promise!" he said, hastily pulling his shirt back on, "It's just a weird habit I've had since I was a kid. I'm not trying to – I mean – I'ts not like – let's go." He finished, leading her back down the corridor that led to the guild hall.

"I'm guessing from the look on your face that Gray started stripping." Mira giggled, "Don't worry, he's not trying to do anything to you, and he never goes past underwear. It's just something he does at least three times a day. Weird, I know, but that's our Gray!"

"Hey, Saki!" a man with a pipe whose name she couldn't remember called, "Hurry up or you're gonna, miss your dual!"

**well, thanks for reading, please review.**

**-icefire out.**


	3. A Wizards Dual

**Here's chapter three. it's the battle between Saki and Erza the Great...enjoy and please r&r**

Chapter 3

"This dual will be staged between the challenger, Saki Okinawa, and the competitor, Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. There will be no time limit, so the dual will end when one party is unable to fight or use magic. Anything legal is permitted. Begin!" Ritus brought his arm down as quickly as he could, which proved to be a rather difficult task, due to his protruding stomach.

Erza began by drawing a magic circle, which lengthened into a sword. She leaped, red hair flying, but Saki was ready, jumping away just in time for Erza's sword to pierce the air where she had been standing.

"Earth Magic, vines!" she drew her own magic circle, which glowed green with earth magic. Thick vines emerged from the ground, entwining Erza, but the armored woman slashed through them with little effort at all, retaliating with a backhanded swing that narrowly missed scraping Saki's stomach.

Another collection of vines was chopped, another two swings dodged. Saki scowled. Erza was better then she had expected. Then again, maybe she had allowed herself to get too cocky. Erza was, after all, an S-class wizard.

Saki focused on one of the harder tasks to perform – dissolving into the ground. As she was primarily a plant mage, ground and rocks were not her specialty, but she was able to melt into the cobblestones a half-second before Erza's punch would've landed on her stomach, materializing behind her.

She whipped her hand in a horizontal slicing motion and an enormous vine swept Erza aside before she had a chance to slash it. Several spectators gasped; no one had expected Saki to land the first hit.

Absorbed in her small victory, Saki didn't see the sword coming before it was too late. A red line appeared on her upper arm where she had been cut. The wound was shallow, but it stung.

It was on, now. As they fought, each scoring hits, Saki paid as careful attention as she could to Erza's fighting style. She relied mostly on her footwork, Saki noticed, so at the first opportunity, she melted out of range, then put her hand on the ground.

"Earth Magic, earthquake!" the ground began to shake and everyone but Saki struggled to stay upright. She used the opportunity to pull more vines, intending to hinder Erza even more, but the Fairy Tail wizard was smart. She spent as much time in the air as she could, touching her feet to the ground only to push off again, quickly making her way towards Saki.

The Earth wizard gritted her teeth. Erza had foiled all her strategies up until this point, landing several more hits on Saki than she had herself. Now it was time to fall to her last resort.

As a young child, Saki remembered hard her first magic lessons.

"You are destined to become a Fire wizard, Saki-chan. You're an Okinawa, and all Okinawa wizards use fire magic." Her mother's voice rang in her ears. The taunts of her cousins at the age of seven when they realized she couldn't use fire-whip yet. Only her father had completely understood.

"The fire is in your blood, but the earth is in your heart. And you have tried to write in blood, Saki-chan, but now it is time to follow your heart." He had said, "There is an old man not far from here who practices Earth magic. He will show you the way. And when you are old enough, you will be able to do what you want with your magic, without the Okinawa family breathing down your neck."

So she had trained and practiced and concentrated on Earth magic, and now, ten years later, she was still able to remember and use the basics of Fire magic. It wouldn't do much damage to Erza, but it might distract her enough to let Saki win the fight.

She drew a magic circle, and this one was orange.

"Fire Magic, fireball!"

Erza did well to mask her surprise as she deflected the weak fireball with her shield, retaliating with a charge. But Saki caught the whispers that travelled the crowd and she smiled to herself.

"Earth wizard…"

"Fire magic?"

"…two kinds of magic…"

Her legs began to meld with the cobblestones as Erza ran at her and she went under, planning to sneak up on her from behind. But Erza had a strategy of her own. When Saki came up again, she found Erza's sword a hair from her neck for the second time that day – she must have feigned a charge, then turned around to meet Saki while she was underground. Ritus lifted his arm.

"This dual goes to Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail!" a great cheer erupted from the crowd – of course they had been rooting for one of their own.

"You are a powerful wizard, and smart, too." Erza admitted, shaking her hand. Was that…_respect_ Saki heard in her voice?

"Thanks, but you were amazing." She breathed. Erza allowed a small smile.

"I do not pretend to be less than I am – an S-class wizard of Fairy Tail. You should be proud – few have managed to hold out so long against me. You will go far with your magic."

Saki looked on as the guild crowded around Erza. They all looked so…_happy_. She thought about Natsu and Gray, Doctor, Elfman, Mira, Ritus, and all the others she had met at Fairy Tail, and she wondered…

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Natsu yelled, "How do you know two types of magic?!"

"I can't really use Fire Magic. Not to do much harm. When I was little, I took some Fire Magic lessons but I wasn't very good at it so I converted to Earth Magic instead." She quickly explained.

"You must've had a really great teacher." Gray observed, "No one's sparred for that long with Erza since her last battle with Natsu."

Saki nodded, "Yeah, Master Takoma was really great."

"You know…" Gray said after a moment, "You could join Fairy Tail if you wanted. We're like family here. I know you'll fit right in."

Saki blinked, how had he known what she'd been thinking? She _did_ want to join Fairy Tail, and she had ever since Mira had walked her through the guild hall the day before.

Obviously, her answer showed on her face, as the two boys slung their arms around her shoulders and dragged her back towards the guild hall, Happy riding on her head.

"Where's Kana?" Natsu asked, glancing around, "We're in need of her tattooing skills."

**yeah I accidentally called Ritus Louis in the last chapter...don't know what I was thinking but sorry.**

**-icefire out**


	4. A Job

**Here I am with Chapter 4! I haven't started on chapter 5 yet so I probably wont update tomorrow -_-**

**anyway, plz enjoy Natsu trying not to barf and Erza in her awesomeness XD**

Chapter 4

Saki looked down and admired the dark green Fairy Tail emblem that was now tattooed on her calf, just visible under the ends of her white capris. The irritated skin around it burned like fire, but Kana kept it under cold running water to lessen the pain, packing up her tattooing tools.

"Hey! You're one of us now!"

"Yes, welcome to Fairy Tail, Saki."

Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy were waiting for her outside. Happy flew down to sniff at her tattoo.

"You should've gotten it blue to match me." He frowned contemptuously, batting it with one wing.

"Ow! That hurts!" Saki growled, stepping back.

"Gray." Erza glared.

"Yes?"

"Clothes."

"…Oh. Sorry."

"Saki's part of our team now." Natsu grinned once Gray was fully clothed, "Know what that means?"

Only Happy took the bait. "What!"

"A job! Let's go check the bulletin board."

They went inside and to the board. "It's Saki's first job, so she should get to choose what it is." Happy pointed out, hovering over them.

"Ooh! Your first job!" Mira squealed excitedly, "What is it?"

"Let's go to Arogata. There's a minor demon ravaging the town and we have to stop it." Saki answered after a moment, trying to control her excitement as she pulled the ad off the board and passed it around so everyone could see.

"Awesome! Demon-extermination. What's the pay?" Natsu asked.

"Forty thousand jewel." Erza answered, as she was holding the paper.

"Sounds like fun!" Mira exclaimed.

"Yeah so get packing." Gray butted in, knocking her shoulder as he passed by, on his way to one of the guy's bunkrooms.

….

"Hurry up, Gray, or we're gonna miss the train!" Natsu called, running ahead of everyone else. Saki carried her trusty backpack, Natsu and Erza a small suitcase each, and Gray a single-strap bag that hung at his side.

"I'm coming." He muttered, "No need to shout."

"I'M NOT SHOUTING!" Natsu bellowed. Several people in the train station turned to look at him, "NOW HURRY UP AND GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

"How is that not shouting?!" Gray grumbled, hurrying to catch up with Natsu. A small argument followed, in which insults and threats were exchanged, promptly ending when Gray found himself half-naked in public with several people staring at him, and those with children hurrying them along. Saki laughed and tossed him his clothes while Erza rolled her eyes and made a small disgusted noise in her throat as they boarded the train.

It was a long three hour train ride to Arogata, most of it spent in silence. Saki fidgeted in excitement. She had a job. A _real job_. Gray spent his time staring out the window, Natsu focused on not barfing the entire way, and Erza curled up in her seat to read a fashion magazine. Erza. Reading a fashion magazine. Well, Saki supposed, she was female, albeit a rather manly female, but female all the same.

At last they arrived, and the pre-recorded voice came on over the loudspeakers. "Arrived at Arogata Station." And they stood up and got off, stepping into a deserted train station, Natsu with obvious relief. A single old man sat on a bench. He looked up furtively as they passed over the top of his newspaper.

"E-excuse me," Saki chanced, "But do you know where we can find –" she glanced back at the ad from the guild hall, "a Mr. Walter Zusak?"

The old man eyed her suspiciously and lowered his newspaper.

"Yer wizards?"

"Yeah, we're Fairy Tail wizards. It says on the ad to contact Walter Zusak. Do you know him?" Natsu asked.

"Yep."

"Can you…take us to him?" Saki asked when the man remained seated.

"If it's the job yer after, I can't help ye."

"Why not?"

"Job's been taken." The old man replied, starting to lift his newspaper again.

"Please." It was Erza this time. Her voice was calm but firm. "We would like to speak to him."

The old man squinted at them all for a moment, chewing his tobacco. Then he spat to the side and got to his feet. "I can't say ye'll git nothing outta it, but I'll take ye ter him, 'f only because I likes ya'll a lot better than them other wizards come lookin' fer a job."

"Thank you." Erza said simply as the man began to walk at a painstakingly slow hobble towards the elevator.

"341, Arogata House. Walter Zusak." The old man spat his tobacco again. Saki stepped forward to ring the doorbell, then turned around to thank him, but the old man was already gone.

"Yes?" a middle-aged woman answered the door, blond hair streaked with gray. "How can I help you?"

"We'd like to speak with Mr. Zusak, if he's home." Erza offered, "We're wizards from the Fairy Tail Guild, and we've come about the job. We know it's been taken but we'd like to speak about it anyway."

"Just a moment." The woman answered, then called into the house. "Walter, some more wizards!"

A portly man arrived and waved them in. "Now, now, what's this all about?"

"We heard there is a demon ravaging your town." Erza said, holding up the ad, "We've come to help you get rid of it." She remained standing as everyone else sat around the coffee table.

"I'm sorry, but that job has been taken." Zusak explained, "I meant to tell everyone to take the ad down once the other wizards came but there hasn't been time – they only arrived yesterday."

"Please, you gotta give us a chance!" Natsu pleaded, leaning forward in his seat, "I rode three hours on a _train_ to get here. There is no way I'm spending three more to get back."

Erza threw him a dirty look. "What my friend is trying to say is –" she was interrupted once more, this time by Gray.

"Demons are nasty buggers, and even a minor demon can take five wizards to defeat it. The more wizards you have trying to take it down, the better off you are. Believe me, I know just how terrible they can be." His eyes were dark and stormy as he stared at the table, and Saki instinctively shrunk back.

"I'm sorry, but I have only forty thousand jewel to spare. I cannot afford to pay both groups." Zusak shook his head, "Besides, the wizards who have already taken the job seemed competent. I have faith in their skills."

"Turn it into a competition." Natsu grinned, getting excited. Everyone turned to look at him. "Whoever defeats the demon wins the forty thousand jewel. That way, you don't have to spend more than you want, and both groups are motivated to get the demon faster."

There was silence as Zusak considered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then, "I have a responsibility as mayor of this town to protect my citizens. Therefore, I will accept your offer. The other group will be notified as soon as possible. You will find the tracks and damage the demon has done on the west end of town, which is where we think it is coming from every night. If you follow those into the forest, I'm sure you'll find it. Meanwhile, you can stay at the Baker's Inn that's just down the road. I'll make sure you get your rooms free of charge."

"Thank you." Erza said as the others stood, "But I have one more question; does the demon come every night?"

"No. only every few nights. It seems to be completely random – we haven't been able to figure out a pattern."

Erza nodded. "Very well. It's getting close to sunset so we'll begin tomorrow."

"Requip." Erza was swept up in a whirlwind of light, then emerged in purple pajamas and sat on her bed, while Saki sat on the end of hers in the room they were sharing at the Baker's Inn.

"Erza?"

"Yes?"

"I'm nervous." She pulled her knees up to her chest and the corners of Erza's mouth curled up.

"It's your first job. Everyone's nervous on their first job. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Thanks."

"Night." Erza replied, turning out the light.

"Night."

Strangely, it was Gray who filled Saki's thoughts that night, and the dark look he'd had when talking about demons, as if remembering something painful from his past...

**thanks for reading! please review!**

**~icefire out *w***


	5. A Noname Chapter

**'Kay! so I called this A Noname Chapter because I really didn't know what to call it. it's not real exciting but chapter 6 will have some action, promise.**

**umm... nothing much else to say. i'm itching to get to the Phantom War so i'm gonna try and hurry this job along but I also need to cover important stuff in it so yeah. here's chapter 5.**

Chapter 5

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Saki woke with a groan and rolled over, tucking her head under her pillow to try and block out the noise.

"Get up, Saki! Let's go, let's go! Requip." Erza's voice was added to the blaring of the alarm clock and Saki finally pulled herself up glancing at the clock. The flashing display read: 5:30.

"Where the hell'd you get 'n 'larm clock anyway?" she grumbled as she headed towards the bathroom.

Once she emerged, fully clothed and groomed, yet still groggy, Erza took her place.

"Go wake up the boys. I'm taking a quick shower and then we'll eat breakfast and go. Requip!"

Saki sighed but followed orders, heading next door and letting herself in when there was no reply to her knock.

"Natsu? Gray? Happy? Erza says get up. Guys?" Happy got up, bleary-eyed, but two snoring lumps on opposite sides of the room were the only reply from the boys so Saki resorted to more brutal methods.

"GET UP YOU LOUSY WORMS OR I'LL BRING THE WHOLE BUILDING DOWN!"

Natsu and Gray, and sat up and blinked at her, then crashed back down on the beds. Saki summoned vine ropes to pull them up, a rather difficult task – boys were _heavy_.

"Listen, you guys better be up and dressed before Erza's done with her shower or we'll _all_ get it."

"Time's it?" Natsu asked, stumbling to his feet.

"5:35."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm not in any better mood than you are." Saki growled. She was counting on the fear of Erza's wrath to keep the boys on track as she left them and headed down to breakfast.

The innkeeper was Scottish. Breakfast turned out to be haggis. What a wonderful start to the day; waking up at zero dark thirty and sheep guts for breakfast.

"Haggis is sheep _stomachs_." Erza corrected when she voiced her complaints, "And it's what's for breakfast so eat up. Honestly, I'm the only one with any sense around here."

"I don't like sheep guts." Gray grumbled, chasing his around on the plate with his fork.

"You haven't even tried it yet." Erza admonished, "And don't play with your food."

"I'm eating mine, see?" Natsu said, obviously hoping for praise.

"And it's good, isn't it."

"Well…I guess so." Natsu mumbled in answer, "Does anyone have any fire?"

"I don't have to eat haggis!" Happy piped up cheerfully, biting into his fish. Natsu, Gray, and Saki all glared at him.

"Well, if you're not going to eat then that's your call. We're not stopping to eat while we're in the woods." Erza told them. Saki and Gray scowled but ate the haggis.

….

"My god…"

They had reached the west end of town. It was completely devastated; the buildings had been crushed to pieces and now resembled piles of large matchsticks. Food and other items lay smashed in the street. And blood stained the cobblestones in several areas.

"Has no one bothered to clean this up?" Natsu asked incredulously as they walked.

"I expect they all evacuated after the demon started destroying things." Erza replied, "Besides, there's no point cleaning up if the demon's just going to come back and wreck it again."

Saki reached down and brushed her fingers along a plank of wood, then examined the dust that had come off on her fingertips.

"This damage here is less recent than the stuff back there – the demon must be working its way across town."

"Yeah, you're right." Gray commented, blowing dust off everything as they entered what seemed to have once been a house. Shattered china littered the floor, and Saki picked up a child's doll, abandoned in flight from the demon. Her fist closed around the doll.

"I'll find you." She swore quietly to the demon, "I'll find you, and when I do, I'll make you pay for this."

"Guys, I found some tracks!" Happy's voice came excitedly from outside. Everyone rushed out and crowded around the cat. A long footprint was pressed into the dirt, with three clawed toes on the front end, and one on the inward side of the heel.

"It looks a bit like a chicken foot." Happy observed, "I wonder if this demon is tasty."

"Don't joke about demons, Happy." Gray said through clenched teeth. When Saki looked up, she was startled to see the same dark look as before in his eyes and shivered a little. Whatever it was Gray thought of when demons came to mind, she didn't want to know.

"Sorry, Gray. I didn't mean it." Happy said in a small voice.

"Let's follow the tracks." Was his only reply. So they did, but the tracks only led as far as the edge of the woods, where footsteps left no impression on the leaves and foliage of the forest floor.

"Now we've lost it!" Saki scowled.

"No we haven't!" Happy countered from up above, "Remember, Natsu can sniff it out!"

"What?!" what was he talking about?

"Oh yeah." Natsu said off-handedly, "I may have forgot to mention that I'm Fairy Tail's Dragonslayer. Also known as Salamander."

"Wait, you're Salamander? As in, _the _Salamander?" Saki asked in disbelief.

"That's me."

"And you're the Dragonslayer for Fairy Tail?"

"Yup."

"Not _the_ Dragonslayer." Gray corrected, "_A_ Dragonslayer."

"Who else is a Dragonslayer?" Saki inquired, looking around at all of her friends.

"Laxus Dreyar." Erza answered, clenching her fist around her sword, "You haven't met him yet. Heaven help you when you do."

"What's so bad about Laxus?" Saki asked in confusion. No one answered her.

"I caught the scent of the demon." Natsu said after a moment.

"Then let's go."

She didn't ask again.

They followed the demon a good ways into the woods, where only Natsu could've led them back to the town. Finally, he stopped and shook his head.

"The trail's been getting fainter for a while now, but I can't pick up any more of it – the scent's too faint here."

"Alright." Erza said, "Let's start looking for a burrow or a large cave of some sort. We'll spread out and meet back here in twenty minutes. Make sure you don't go too far; holler if you need us and we'll come."

They spread out in different directions to look. Happy called out once that he'd found a burrow but it was just a rabbit hole.

"We need something bigger, stupid." Gray rolled his eyes. Happy looked devastated.

"Hey, what about up there? It looks like it could have any number of caves." Saki pointed to a rocky outcrop hanging over the tops of the trees.

"Hmm, it's worth a shot." Erza decided, yanking on her sword, which she had driven into the ground to lean on, "Let's go check it out, shall we?"

As the outcrop loomed ever closer, Natsu began to look uncomfortable.

"Dude, what's gotten into you?" Gray asked, obviously unimpressed.

"Something…smells." Natsu muttered.

"I smell it, too!" Happy announced, twitching his cat-nose, "It's gotta be the demon!"

"By the time they got to the top of the overhang, they didn't need Natsu or Happy to lead them to the cave that the demon occupied. A trail of bones littered the ground. Mostly animal bones, cracked open with the marrow sucked out, though Saki spotted something that looked suspiciously like a human skull. They stood at the mouth of an enormous cave, and no one spoke as they stared into the blackness.

Deep in the back of the cave, a burning red eye snapped open.

**thx for reading! please review and tell me watcha think!**

**~icefire out (I luv Gray forever! And Pikachu! And not haggis.)**


	6. Demon

**Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!**

**i'm pretty sure chapter 6 is the longest chapter so far, but before I get to it i'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has made it this far into my story, particularly TheRedHeadGuy, Pusha, slevkid, and MisturRainbow - you guys make me feel loved ^w^ (or maybe that's just me being your typical weirdo.)**

**anyway, here's chapter 6!**

Chapter 6

"Should we go in?" Happy flitted about nervously. "I don't wanna do battle in the dark…"

"You're not going to be the one battling." Saki reminded him. "But I agree with you."

"Yay! Somebody agrees with me!" Happy cheered.

"Shh, be quiet, I hear somethin'." Natsu shushed them and they fell silent.

"It's awake I think." He whispered. "It can probably smell us."

"Then we'll wait for it out here." Erza decided.

"Hey! Looks like the Fairy scum already got here!" a male voice floated from behind them. Everyone turned and saw three people behind them. From the symbol tattooed on one's neck, Saki could see that they were from Phantom Lord Guild – they must be the other wizards who had taken the job.

"Sorry, guys." Natsu smirked without an ounce of remorse in his voice or expression, "But if you'll excuse us, we've got a job to do."

"No way!" the tall blonde from the other group curled her fingers into a fist. "We got the job first! That demon is ours!"

"That's not the way the deal was made." Erza argued, "Whoever defeats the demon first gets the forty thousand jewel."

"Wait a minute!" the buff guy peered at Erza. "You're Titania Erza!" his gaze shifted to Natsu, "And you! I've seen you before, too."

"Salamander." Another voice loomed from the hood of the other Phantom member. "He is Natsu Dragneel, fire Dragonslayer, also known as Salamander."

"The Titania and Salamander, with two others besides." The buff one muttered to his friends. "Maybe we should just let them handle it, whaddya think?"

"Ugh. Don't be such a wimp, Crag, this is our job, and that's our demon." The blonde snarled.

"Not on your life." Natsu replied, fingertips bursting into flame.

"Then we'll fight you for it." The hooded one replied calmly.

"You're on!" Natsu replied, "Fire Dragon, roar!"

"Bind!" the hooded one responded, and it was on.

"Ice make, battle axe!"

"Double-edged sword!"

"Earth Magic, thorns!" Saki cried, targeting the blond. The girl easily leaped over the coils of thorns that sprang up in front of her facing Saki with a smirk.

"It that all you got?"

"Earth Magic branches!" Saki replied, bending the surrounding trees to whip the blonde with their branches, but suddenly, there were thirty blondes, all surrounding her. In confusion, she stopped and looked around.

_Where'd all her twins come from?_

She lashed out at the blondes, but her vines passed right through all of them as if they weren't there.

As if they…weren't…there.

"Ha! You're an illusionist!" she exclaimed with realization.

"Took you long enough." The blonde snickered, appearing right to the left of her, just in time to clonk her on the head. Or at least, she tried.

Quick as a whip, Saki leaped aside and tackled the girl, sending her facedown into the dirt. The Phantom Lord blonde spat with rage.

Unfortunately, the commotion had been enough to rouse the curiosity of the demon, and it appeared in the mouth of the cave. Everyone stopped struggling and hollering. Erza was the first to speak.

"Listen, we should work together if we want to make sure to beat this thing." She suggested.

"No way in hell." The blonde hissed before she could finish. "We can finish our own jobs. We don't need Fairy scum like you busting in and stealing our reward so go home!"

The demon roared to announce it was still present and stepped completely out of the cave.

"And they call that…a _minor_ demon?" Saki squeaked.

"Stupid flower girl." The blonde snorted from under her, "Demons are classified based on their power, not their size. Now let me up!"

"You expect me to?" Saki laughed, not obliging. Erza looked over from where she was lowering her sword from the hooded man's neck.

"You might as well, Saki. There's no way they'll take down the demon before us, but it wouldn't hurt to let them try."

"Fine." Saki muttered, letting the girl up. As soon as she did, the blonde swung her arm out but Saki was quicker, using the arm to flip her over on her back. The martial arts classes she'd taken as a kid had paid off. "Don't try that, blondie. If it was up to me, you'd still be pinned on the ground there but Erza thinks different."

The girl coughed and tried to say something but she was winded from hitting the ground so hard and it took her nearly a full minute to get to her feet again. By that time, Fairy Tail had already attacked from the left flank.

"Fire Dragon, iron fist!" Natsu howled, attacking first. The demon was covered in a scaly hide that seemed to protect it from most of the blast, but Erza's sword did it more damage, making a shallow but long gash in the demon's leg.

"Ice make, spear!"

"Earth Magic, dirt storm!"

A huge wall of dirt spun up around the demon, like a dark tornado.

"Don't do that, Saki! Now we can't see it!" Natsu called from the air.

Saki focused the dirt storm on only the demon's head, so they could see it, but it couldn't see them.

Phantom Lord attacked from the other side with their own magic, enraging the demon further and causing it to strike out blindly with its giant hands. Natsu, Erza, and Saki all managed to dodge the demon's flailing arms and legs, but as Gray jumped to avoid its foot, an enormous arm caught him squarely in the stomach, and the blow sent him flying only to hit the side of the cave with a _thud_. He fell limply onto the ground, unmoving.

"Gray!" Erza cried, fending off swipes and kicks.

"I'll get him! You two keep fighting!" Saki panted, cutting off the dirt storm and sending a few last thorns at the demon's eyes before rushing over to the ice mage.

"Gray! Gray talk to me are you okay?" she shook him roughly but his head lolled to one side and there was no response.

"Dammit I'll kill you if you're not okay!" she rasped. Putting her ear up to his mouth, she could feel warm breath ruffle her hair. Good. He was still alive, just unconscious.

Using her vines, Saki created a sort of net and rolled Gray onto it, then gathered the four corners and attempted to pull him behind the cave where they couldn't be seen from where everyone else was fighting.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar shook the earth and the demon tramped towards them – it had spotted its weakened prey getting away. Natsu and Erza set upon it – it looked like Phantom had been taken out, but faster than anyone would've thought possible, the demon darted forward and grabbed Saki and Gray in its hand, then slipped into the cave before anyone knew what was happening.

….

The sound of coughing made Saki wake with a start; she hadn't realized she'd dozed off. She looked over to where Gray was hacking, his face contorted in agony. When he saw her watching, helpless, he held out his hand, something cupped in his palm.

Saki scooted closer and saw that it was a sphere of ice he'd created.

"M-melt. Melt it." He managed to rasp, before the coughing started all over again. She made a leaf to hold the water in and held the ice in her hands, mentally willing it to melt faster. Then she gave him the leaf to drink from and the coughing subsided.

They both lay there in silence but she could tell it hurt for him even to breathe.

"How old are you?" Saki asked after a moment.

"Seventeen. Eighteen in three months."

"What does this mean?" she showed him her Fairy Tail tattoo.

"Fairy Tail emblem." He panted.

"Where's Fairy Tail located?"

"Yarigawa."

"Good, you didn't hit your head too hard. I think you've broken a couple ribs." She explained, running her hands through her dark hair. "I tried to help you but there was nothing I could really do." She gestured to the leaves she'd wrapped around his middle.

"We're in a cave?" Gray asked. She nodded. "Where? What happened?"

"After you and Phantom Lord got knocked out, Natsu and Erza kept fighting the demon and I tried to get you away from the cave but it spotted us and took us inside. Natsu and Erza tried to follow us in but at the entrance, they just…stopped. Like there was some sort of glass wall or something. The same stuff that stops us from getting out by that hole in the wall and me from dissolving into the floor." She nodded towards a break in the wall of rock near the ceiling where a chunk of sunlight shone through, enabling them to see. "Then the demon took us down a bunch of twisty passageways and put us in here. It's been a couple hours, or at least it had before I fell asleep."

Gray scooted up near the wall of the cave with great difficulty and raised himself into an upright position, waving away her attempts to help.

They sat in silence, Saki in the middle of the floor, Gray against the wall. Finally, "You're cold, aren't you?"

She didn't confirm or deny the fact, only scratched her fingernail against the rocky floor.

"I'm sorry – I'd help if I could but I can't make a fire and I don't radiate a lot of heat."

"I'm okay." She mumbled, but she sat beside him anyway. He was right – his body didn't give off much heat but the little it did stopped her shivering, at least.

Saki slammed her fist against the floor.

"Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit! I never should've picked this quest. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have broken ribs and we'd still be with Natsu and Erza and Happy, dammit!" Saki hated the tears that fell on the floor of the cave, making little dark spots on the rock.

"You can't go blaming yourself like that." Gray snorted, then winced, "There's no way you could've known this would happen. Don't go crying, Saki; that won't help anything."

"I'm not crying!" she protested, wiping her tears away with the heel of her hand. He didn't contradict her.

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you hate demons so much?"

He was silent for so long, she thought he wasn't going to answer her.

"Deliorah…" he whispered "Deliorah is the demon of destruction."

Saki didn't speak, for fear he would stop.

…..

By the time Gray had finished his story, the sun was close to setting. She must've been asleep longer then she'd realized. Saki climbed up the craggy rock wall to see the sunset.

"What does it look like?" Gray asked from below.

"Well, the sun is almost the trees now." She answered, "The sky is orangey-red and there's a long purple cloud right across the middle. I can see…" she craned her neck to look, "A town. I think it's Arogata."

She continued to describe in detail what she saw until the last rays of the sun dipped down beneath the treeline.

**as always, thnx for reading and please review!**

**~icefire out **


	7. The Sea of Broken Glass

**Happy Black Friday everybody. hope nobody decided to go shopping and got squished and trampled, and that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. everyone who celebrates it anyway.**

**chapter 7 is up and I can finally be done with the demon job and move on. yay!**

**Pusha: indeed it does.**

**slevkid: thank you very much. my thoughts exactly**

**Eagleblade: i'm sorry idk who you're talking about. if it's a character from fairy tail that comes later in the series...well, I'm (sadly) only on episode 39... nice profie pic btw.**

**anyway, enjoy chapter 7. it makes no sense but all will be explained beginning of next chapter, promise.**

Chapter 7

When Saki blinked her eyes open the next morning, Gray was not there. For a moment, she thought he'd disappeared, but then a shadow fell over her, blocking the sunlight and she looked up.

"How'd you get up there?! Get down, you've already done enough damage to yourself!" She yelled.

He was standing on a ledge with his back to the hole, grinning down at her.

"I'm healed." He told her smugly, leaping down and landing in front of her.

"You're _what?_"

"Healed. I woke up this morning and it's like they were never broken." He poked his side several times. "And all the scars I've ever had are gone as well, look." Gray pulled up his bangs and bared his forehead. "There used to be a big scar right here but it's gone now."

Saki hurriedly checked herself. There was no white line on her wrist where she'd had to have stitches years ago when she'd fallen off a swing, no scar on her thumb where she'd cut herself with a knife accidentally while making soup. Gone, too, were the cuts and bruises she'd received the day before, fighting the demon and the blonde.

"This place must be infused with magic." She said, running her hands along the walls.

"My guess is that a really big magical event happened here a long time ago and left magical residue everywhere in this cave. In any case, no demon could've used magic like this healing or the glass. Not even a major demon." Gray replied. "But first things first, I'm starving and there's nothing to eat in here!"

"Yeah, me too." Saki agreed, "I'll see what I can do about it."

"Aha!" she exclaimed as lettuce appeared on the floor. Tomatoes, bell peppers, and carrots soon followed. "What else goes on a salad?"

"Bacon." Gray suggested. Saki shook her head.

"Can't do meat. Only plants."

"Well, in that case, jalapeños will do."

"Okay."

"Could be worse." Gray remarked, taking his share of the salad and wolfing it down in a manner that only a teenage boy could pull off.

"Whaddya mean '_Could be worse'_?!" Saki protested indignantly, "If I wasn't here you wouldn't be eating anything at all!"

"Yeah, it's good. Better than haggis." Gray conceded. He made two cups out of ice and a separate sphere to melt, then handed an ice glass to her. "Here, have some water."

"Hm. At least it's not the tap water they gave us with the haggis." Saki teased, winking over the top of her glass. Gray chuckled.

"Now let's focus on finding a way out of here 'cause I need to pee." Saki commented once they were both finished. "We can't get out of the hole in the wall, the main entrance to the room, or through the floor – I tried all of them." she sighed. "That leaves the tunnel."

"Tunnel?"

Saki pointed to a roundish tunnel entrance near a dark corner of the cave, just big enough for one person to crawl through. There was no telling how far it went, and darkness swallowed any light which might've let them see.

"Huh. How come you didn't try that before?" Gray asked, sticking his arm into the hole. "It doesn't seem like there's a barrier like on the other places. Or are you afraid of the dark?"

"I am not! I just didn't want to drag you for who knows how long to who knows where!" she replied.

"Don't worry, Saki-chan. I'll protect you from the monsters." He grinned, patting her on the head.

"I can take care of myself, thank you."

"Hey, Saki?" Gray's voice was serious now.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For not leaving me behind."

She struggled to think of a reply that sounded genuine. Finally she just smiled slightly and said, "It's not something you should be thankful for. It's something you should take for granted."

He looked at her in a thoughtful way for a moment. His eyes, she noticed, were dark grey. With a hint of blue.

Saki followed him into the darkness, the rough floor digging into her palms and knees. Over twenty minutes had passed before Gray's voice broke the silence.

"I think we're almost there. There's cool air coming through."

Saki climbed out of the hole with relief. The claustrophobia had been starting to get to her and it felt good to be in an open room again. They still couldn't see much, but the dim light from up ahead pointed them in the right direction.

Saki tripped once as they made their way down a narrow corridor, but Gray's fingers caught her arm and pulled her up before she face-planted the ground.

Finally, after what seemed like a thousand years, they emerged into a cavern that led to the outside. Something about it rang a bell in Saki's memory. "I think this is the cave that we were fighting the demon in front of." She walked towards the cave entrance, seeing herself reflected in the glass that sealed it off. She had dirt on her face. Her clothes were ripped from where the demon's claws had grazed her – the healing magic didn't seem to work on inorganic things. And her hair was a mess. Hurriedly, she tried as best she could to fix her appearance. Gray felt the wall, too, knocking on it with his knuckles.

"It's glass, alright. It should break pretty easily. Ice make, axe."

Gray set to work on the wall, but while his axe chipped and eventually cracked, it made no visible appearance on the glass.

"Ice breaks too easily." Saki concluded, "We'll do it the old fashioned way." She went over to a large rock, using magic to help her lift it and place it in a vine net she had made while Gray had been chopping away. Taking hold of the net, she walked backwards with it until she was at the back of the cave, with the rock in the net that was stretched from the center. Then she released her hold on the net.

It worked like a slingshot, sending the rock into the wall at high speed. For a moment it didn't seem to have worked, but then a thousand tiny cracks appeared in the glass like a web, sprouting from where the rock had hit. The wall burst outward with an enormous crash, and the miniscule pieces scattered across the granite.

"Haha! Well done!" Gray exclaimed.

"Yeah but look. Now we have to cross the sea of broken glass. You have no shoes and I only have one." Saki replied, grimly displaying her single sandal.

"A problem easily solved. Here. Piggyback."

"How will that solve anything?!" Saki yelled.

"Look, do you want to get across with normal feet or bloody feet?" Gray sighed. She scowled.

"I swear, if anyone is around to see this, they won't live to tell the tale."

With Saki riding piggyback, Gray stepped forward, straight onto a carpet of broken glass, and walked across with no apparent discomfort.

"What?! How are you doing that?" Saki asked in disbelief.

"I told you, Ur put me through hell up there in the mountains."

Gray put her down on the other side and brushed off his feet.

"Gray! Saki!"

They both looked up. "That sounds like Natsu."

A blue streak appeared in the sky a moment later. "Happy, down here!" Saki yelled and waved her arms. The blue streak angled downwards and bowled into her at full speed.

Saki swore profusely as she fell and her open palm landed on a few stray bits of glass. When she pulled it back up for inspection, bright rivulets of blood dribbled down her wrist and the slivers now imbedded in her hand sparkled as they caught the light.

"Damn you, Happy. Damn you." She finished as Gray melted ice and bathed her hand in it. It stung. With a sincere apology, Happy flew up to inform Natsu and Erza that he had found the missing persons.

**it seems...really short now that I've read it through. I guess i'm just a slow writer... anyway, plz review!**

**~icefire out**


	8. Gajeel Makes FairyTail (Minus Laxus) Mad

**crap I have school tomorrow. -.-**

**anyway. chapter 8. Gajeel the Awesome makes an indirect appearance. (one of my fav shippings = GajeelxLevy)**

**please r&r**

Chapter 8

"Honestly, Saki. You were in here less than a week ago. Please try not to injure yourself further for the rest of the month at least. This hand is going to scar, by the way. My magic can only go so far." Doctor shook her head and finished tying a bandage around Saki's right hand. The glass slivers had been painfully extracted in the past half hour, and now Saki's bandage closely resembled a mitten. It hurt. Hurt to bend her wrist, hurt to make a fist, hurt to curl her fingers, hurt to do anything requiring the use of her hand.

"Well," she sighed, "I've always wished I was ambidextrous. It looks like I'll be learning the art of being left-handed in the next few weeks."

She was not as bothered about the scarring. Truth be told, she felt a pang of remorse for all her hard-earned scars that had been removed without her consent or permission. But she was willing to forgive the magic for healing Gray's ribs. Otherwise, they'd probably still be stuck in that cave.

After the group had been reunited, the demon had easily been taken care of and sent back to the place from whence it came: Hell. It would not be back for a long while. They had collected their reward and jumped on the nearest train back home, despite Natsu's loud protests. Saki had had to hold him prisoner in vine ropes until the train had left the station before he'd been allowed to burn them off. The memory made her chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Doctor asked.

"I love Fairy Tail."

"Get out. Shoo!" Doctor threw her out the door when she was finished and stuck her head into the hallway. "Next!"

Natsu crawled into the room and Saki stepped over him, joining the others in the guild hall. She could hear Doctor behind her kicking Natsu out, too. "I've told you a thousand times if I've told you once, Natsu. I have nothing for motion sickness. You'll have to stick it out until it goes away. Aw, don't be such a wimp. Motion sickness never killed anybody."

"It's killing _me_." Natsu croaked weakly as he reentered the guild hall. Only twenty minutes had passed since they had returned to the guild and he was still suffering from the train ride.

"Okinawa Saki, isn't it? It's time we met properly." a short man walked up to her, barely coming up to Saki's stomach. He climbed onto the table so as to be eye-level with her.

"This is Sensei. Makarov Dreyar, the master of our guild." Mirajane whispered in her ear. Where had she come from? Dreyar. Something about that name triggered something in Saki's memory, but she couldn't remember what it was. She bowed from the waist.

"Sensei."

He did likewise. "Last time I saw you, you were still unconscious in the infirmary. I had to leave for a council meeting the day before you took your job. I hear you challenged Erza and made it back all in one piece." The old man's eyes twinkled mischievously. "That's certainly something to be proud of."

"It wasn't a long fight." Saki felt her face reddening as the Master praised her.

"From what I hear, it was a good five minutes. Only Natsu and Laxus have made it beyond the five minute mark with Erza. She's never fought Mystogan, the other S-class wizard here, but that would be a spectacle, I'm sure."

Saki was saved from replying by the appearance of the Titania herself, closely followed by Gray, Happy, and Natsu; the latter seemed to have nearly gotten over his motion sickness.

"Sensei. It's good to see you back."

"And you, Erza." The Master replied, nodding at Happy, Natsu and Gray.

"About the job that we just completed, we wanted to ask you if you knew anything about the glass walls that kept popping up. The demon could pass through them but we couldn't." Erza said in a low voice.

"As a matter of fact I do. Those caves are the burial site of the sand dragon Uul. Once the dragon died, her magic was left to float around the woods. It probably considered itself above mortal beings and latched onto the closest living thing that stumbled along; the demon. It served to the demon's will alone. That's why it could pass through and you could not. The healing was probably just a side effect from Uul being embedded in the stone for so long; dragon flesh has healing properties. But the fact that Saki was able to shatter the glass with a normal rock…my only guess is that those caves are bigger than we realized, and the magic was spread thin to cover all the openings you could've used to escape."

Erza nodded. "Thank you, Sensei. And do you also know about the other thing that happened?"

"I've already been informed by Jose himself." Makarov replied grimly, "There is trouble brewing, my girl, but I'm afraid there is no way we can convince them of the truth; that it was not your fault."

"What other thing?" Saki asked.

"Yeah. What's not our fault?" Gray's eyes flicked from Natsu to Erza to Makarov to Happy.

"When we were battling the demon, one of Phantom Lord's wizards was killed! The big one." Happy told them anxiously.

"Shh, Happy. Not so loud." Natsu shushed him as several people nearby turned at the sound of Happy's voice.

"No." Makarov countered, "They deserve to know. If there's going to be trouble with Phantom Lord, they need to know why." He drew up to his full height of maybe three and a half feet and looked out over the guild hall. "Silence!" Saki was surprised that such a big sound could come from such a little person. The hall fell silent and everyone turned to look at the Master.

"Recently," he announced, "In a job that one of our teams undertook, a member of the Phantom Lord Guild was killed, through no fault of our own. However, the Master of Phantom Lord, Jose, and the guild itself, does not see it this way. In their eyes, the death of Crag Lloyd would not have been if not for Fairy Tail wizards. They have not consulted with the Magic Council on this matter but I have no doubts that they are willing to battle over it if we do not admit to being guilty."

He looked around at each and every person. "I, for one, will not admit to a crime that my children have been falsely accused of. Who's with me?"

A great cheer went up, consisting of "I am!"'s and "We'll beat those lying bastards into the ground!"'s

…..

Makarov Dreyar paced in his quarters. Finally, the call he had been waiting for came in. Energy crackled and a purplish screen appeared in the middle of the room, Jose's leering face looking down at him.

"Jose." He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Makarov. I trust you've come to the right decision." Jose's smile was more like a grimace.

"I have."

"Good. I will expect them tomorrow morning."

Makarov raised one of his bushy eyebrows. "You won't be expecting anyone tomorrow morning, Jose. All I said was that I'd come to the right decision. Nowhere did I say that I thought your way of doing things was right."

All pretense of amenity was dropped at this point. "Four of your precious children have committed murder, a fact which you cannot avoid. All we ask is that they are given over to us for proper punishment."

"My children have done no such thing!" Makarov roared, "How dare you wrongly accuse them of a happening that was the victim's own damn fault!"

"Are you calling the wizards of Phantom Lord liars?" Jose sneered.

"Are you calling the wizards of Fairy Tail liars?"

"I will give you one last chance, Makarov. Hand over the guilty and we will not harm you or the rest of your guild. But refuse and it will mean war."

Makarov hesitated only for a second. War was something to be avoided at all costs. But he would not allow his children to be tortured and possibly killed for their innocence at the hands of Phantom Lord. "You seem awfully quick to jump to such severe measures, Jose. But I do not need a second chance to do what I know is right."

"I am truly sorry that it has to be this way." Jose leered. But his face said different as his image winked out of existence.

…..

_BANG! CRASH!_

Saki jumped awake to a deafening sound. The crunch of wood being crushed under something heavy. She leaped out of bed and pulled her clothes from the previous day over her head, then rushed into the hallway. Several of the girls in her bunkhouse were also sticking their heads into the hallway, and the place was utter chaos. One voice rose above all the others.

"It's coming from the guild hall!" Kana shouted, "Let's go!"

The girls filed out and ran to the guild hall, knight mages requipping into their armor. They fell in with the boys, and the whole mass of people rushed to the scene.

The place was a wreck, a huge pile of splintered wood and broken glass. A thick iron pillar stood in the center of the mess, right where Kana usually sat with a tankard at the bar. It was a statement. An invitation. '_Come and fight us._'

"Where's Erza?" Saki asked as Gray and Natsu came up beside her.

"Erza's got her own place in the town. The bunkhouses are just for us poor people." Natsu explained, "But knowing Erza, she'll probably have heard the crash and come running fully equipped with Hell's Wheel armor all ready for battle." He smacked his fist against his palm. "If there was anybody to do battle with! Those cowards, they wreck our guild and just run off without even fighting us. Those cowardly bastards!"

"We're just lucky that the bunkhouses are separate from the guild hall." Gray said quietly, "Otherwise…" he trailed off.

There was no 'Who did this?' or 'Why would someone do a thing like that?' everyone knew the answers to those questions already. The only thing asked was 'When do we attack?'

"We will go to Phantom Lord at seven this morning. That's three and a half hours from now." The Master answered, "And when we are finished, they will know not to mess with Fairy Tail again!"

"Why don't we go now?!" Natsu asked, hands ablaze. Makarov turned towards him.

"Because there are some who are not present at the moment and who will feel the exact same way you do when they see what Phantom has done. I will not deprive them of this battle. It is our right to fight. And by '_our'_ I mean all of Fairy Tail. We cannot wait for those on jobs but we can wait for a few more to get here."

"In three and a half hours," Natsu snarled, not seeming to notice that his scarf had caught fire, "The bastard who did this will be burnt to a crisp."

Saki didn't doubt his words. Fairy Tail was angry.

**Natsu's really pissed in case you couldn't tell...**

**~icefire out**


	9. Battle of the Guilds

**chapter 9 is up! it's kinda shortish...**

**and...yeah. here it is.**

Chapter 9

"He's made matchsticks out of it." Erza ran her fingers down a plank of wood that had once been a ceiling beam, pulling out three splinters without so much as a wince. Saki followed her gaze up to the iron pillar that struck through the heart of the guild hall. "Curse you, Gajeel." The knight mage whispered, hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Don't even think about it, Erza. He's mine." Natsu was still simmering and growing ever more agitated as seven o clock drew closer.

"At least let me get one hit in." there was no humor in Erza's voice.

No one had been able to sleep the past three hours. Those who had their own places to sleep at night had come almost immediately – the crash had woken nearly the whole town of Magnolia and even the townspeople knew that Fairy Tail was planning an attack on Phantom.

"Doctor!" someone shouted. It was Macao, breathing heavily from running. Doctor walked forward briskly as the crowd fell silent and turned towards Macao.

"Macao? Are you hurt?" Doctor asked. Macao shook his head.

"It's Levy and Jet and Droy. You gotta come fast."

The whole guild followed Macao to an enormous oak tree. Up near the branches, three people hung from the trunk with torn clothes and scuffed, unmoving bodies.

After being released from the iron bands that held them in place, team Shadow Gear was laid in front of the doctor.

"Alive." She announced after a moment, "But not for long if we don't get them to the hospital right away. Ritus, help me carry them."

"Oui." Ritus stepped forward, picking up Jet and Droy while Doctor carried Levy.

"Forget seven." Makarov said once they had left. "We will attack now!"

…

Makarov didn't break stride as the doors to the Phantom Lord guild hall burst open before him.

"You have destroyed our home and severely injured our family. We will not stand for this!"

There was dead silence for a moment before a tanned man with long black hair and iron rivets adorning his cheek came forward from the back of the hall. There was no need to ask who he was.

"YOU COWARD!" Natsu shot out from the rest of the Fairy Tail group, all the pent-up energy he'd been holding in for three hours exploding at this moment. "I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES FOR WHAT YOU DID TO THE GUILD AND LEVY AND JET AND DROY. YOU HEAR ME? I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!"

Gajeel looked at him, unimpressed. "This? This is your big rescue? This is your punch line? _This _punk is the best you got?"

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S A PUNK YOU RIVET-FACED FREAK!"

It was as if everyone had been waiting for a signal and that was it. The Phantom guild hall erupted into chaos. Saki spotted the Master going up the stairs, and she guessed he was looking for Jose. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor but Saki didn't have time to see anything else as a something slimy wrapped around her ankle. She looked to the other end of the slimy rope and saw a familiar face.

"You!"

"Me." The blonde smirked. Saki lunged, shaking off the rope that she knew was just an illusion but the blonde dodged and when Saki looked up to her again, she was holding a machete.

There was no way of knowing whether the knife was real or not so she tried to stay clear of it as much as she could. Luckily, the floor of the guild hall was made of stone allowing her to melt right into it.

Letting her intuition guide her in the blackness of underground, Saki drifted back up to where she thought the blonde was standing. A true master would've been able to pinpoint exactly where she wanted to be, but Saki hadn't spent much time on accuracy when dissolving, and the only reason she'd bothered to learn it in the first place was because she'd thought it would be a good skill to have. She preferred the whispering life of plants to the cold deadness of stone.

When he head broke the surface, she was a little to the right of where she needed to be, but close enough that the blonde was unbalanced, allowing Saki to wrap little thorny vines all around her ankles.

"SAKI!" a scream. Reflexively, Saki whipped around, looking for the source of the scream, and in the few seconds she spent looking, the blonde broke free and had pinned her to the floor with the machete at her neck.

"Saki!" The girl mimicked, "So gullible". So the scream had only been another illusion. But the machete was real – Saki could feel the cold metal against her neck. An iron beam pierced the floor a foot from her head and she could see Natsu and Gajeel going at each other on the ceiling.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Saki asked.

"And what might that be?"

Saki smiled and melted into the floor.

At the exact moment Saki reemerged, something fell from the ceiling, and it wasn't an iron beam or a piece of flaming wood. It was a body. A very small body. Erza dove forward and caught it just before it hit the stone, and gasped.

"Who is it?" someone shouted as the fighting stopped. Even from her spot near a corner of the room, Saki could see hear hands shaking, hear her voice trembling in disbelief.

"It's the master."

…

"I still don't see why you pulled us out, Erza. We were winning!" Natsu scowled.

"No, we were not winning." Erza replied, "It was for the good of the guild."

"_I_ was winning! Saki was winning. _You _were winning. Even Gray was winning! I saw you!"

"You saw Saki and Gray and I, but did you see Wakaba, surrounded by four Phantom wizards, forced to use a smokescreen to escape? Did you see Laki, struggling as her wood creations were chopped to pieces by a knight mage? Did you see Alzack and Bisca, battling Sol only to find themselves knocked on the heads by the same stone? Did you even bother to look around you, Natsu?!"

"I was focusing on Gajeel, okay!" Natsu defended himself, but Erza went on as if she hadn't heard.

"What about Elfman, not even able to transform so much as a finger after he was taken down. Did you hear Mirajane crying because she thought she was useless as we left her at the guild? No, Natsu. We were not winning. Laxus refused to come and Mystogan is away. That leaves you, Sensei and I as the strongest wizards of the guild. Sensei was looking for Jose, you were tied up with Gajeel, and what was I supposed to do after the Master fell and nearly all of our guild was defeated? Take down the whole of Phantom Lord by myself? That is too much to ask. Not even I can wipe out a whole guild." Erza closed her eyes. She was not in the mood to argue.

Saki's thoughts turned to the Master for a moment. He had been rushed off to Porlyusica as soon as possible, and there had been no further word from her since.

As they arrived back at the guild, Saki heard Erza sigh. "Okay, listen up, everybody!" she yelled, "We have lost a battle but we have not lost the war. Gajeel has nearly killed team Shadow Gear, and Aria has used the drain spell on our Master. But Fairy Tail is not beaten! Listen to me, Phantom is not finished. They will come for us, but when they do, we'll be waiting. For those of you who sleep in the bunkhouses, gather your things and find a place to stay in town for the next few nights – we can't trust Phantom not to attack during the night as they've already done once. Thank you, that's all."

Erza turned to Saki, Natsu, Gray and Happy. "You all can stay at my place for tonight. I have room in my apartment for four people and one cat."

**hope you liked it :) please review it would mean a lot to me if you did.**

**~icefire out ;D**


	10. Rising Storm

**yay! 10 chapters! probably there will be 2 more chapters after this one to finish off the phantom war; I figure that's about as long as my patience can hold out - I already have ideas for my next story and I can't work on 2 stories at once.**

**we just got back from thanksgiving and i'm already counting the days till Christmas break (13)... -_-**

**slevkid: i'm glad you thought that because that's exactly what I was going for. i'm rewriting the story but changing the things that I don't like.**

**anyway, plz enjoy chapter 10 and please review!**

Chapter 10

At seven on Saturday morning, the town of Magnolia was just waking up. Erza, Saki, Natsu, and Gray all walked through the town towards the hill where the Fairy Tail guild hall had once stood while Happy rode on Natsu's head.

As they approached the ruins of the guild hall, shouting voices reached Saki's ears.

"Laxus, please!" that sounded like Mirajane.

"Sorry, Mira, no can do." A male voice answered her, which Saki could only assume was Laxus.

They came over the hill and saw Mira standing in a circle of silent onlookers. A big blond man in a green fur-trimmed coat sat at one of the tables that had been set up outside, with spiked headphone-looking things covering his ears. So this was Laxus.

"Phantom is destroying your own guild and you just sit there like you don't care!" Mira was flushed and angry, "Why do you refuse to help? Look at what they did to us!" she flung her arm out to display all of the present members of Fairy Tail, most of which were bandaged in some way or another.

Laxus spread his fingers in a gesture of mock helplessness as Saki elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. "I can't help it of you guys are weak." He shrugged, "Truth be told, I'm rooting for Phantom. That way this guild will be cleansed of all you scumbag weaklings and only the strong will remain."

"What the hell?!" Saki stepped forward as Mirajane opened her mouth to reply. Several people nearby warned her not to intrude in whispers but Saki paid no heed. "You _want _us to lose? How can you even call yourself a Fairy Tail wizard?"

Laxus's gaze shifted from Mira to Saki and a grin slowly spread across his face. It was the leer of a predator who had caught sight of his prey.

"You must be that new girl, Okinawa. Well, girl, welcome to Fairy Tail." His grin fell and he glared at everyone surrounding him, "The most pathetic guild there ever was."

"We are not pathetic!" Saki replied incredulously, "How dare you!"

Laxus laughed out loud. "You hear that! She don't think you're pathetic." He looked back at her, "They tell me you're an Earth mage, but you seem more like a Fire wizard to me with that kinda spunk. Earth wizards are supposed to be peaceful."

"Magic isn't all of a person's character. Genetics come in, too. My entire family is made up of Fire mages…except me."

"You got guts, girl. Maybe too many. Let's see if your skill can match your spunk." He chuckled in a frightening kind of way. Saki was ready to accept but Gray pulled her back, having made his way to her through the crowd.

"Don't, Saki. Laxus isn't anything like Erza. He'll kill you without a second thought – he's not sane!"

"Damn right I'm not sane!" Laxus grinned as everyone shrunk back a little. "That's right, you weaklings are too scared to battle me." He glanced back at Gray and Saki, "Congratulations, Stripper Boy. You just saved a life. Now all of you go fight your little war. And Stripper Boy, take the little slut with you."

"What did you just call me?" Saki hissed as she fought against Gray in vain. The Fairy Tail wizards scuttled off as Laxus rose from the table and looked back over his shoulder at her; he seemed to be the only one who had heard.

"Little slut." Laughing, he walked off.

"Let me go!" Saki growled and squirmed but Gray hooked his elbows in hers and held her wrists down, preventing her from drawing any magic circles.

"No. I can't watch him hurt you like he will, Saki. You have to pick your battles, and right now, Phantom is our priority."

Wakaba turned to look down at her and pulled the cigarette from between his teeth as he walked past with Macao. "Listen to Gray, kid. You don't wanna mess with Laxus."

"Yeah." Natsu added knowledgably, "You can't go around fighting S-class wizards every chance you get. Next thing you know she'll be taking on Mystogan and Gramps."

"Yeah Natsu can tell you all about challenging wizards more powerful than yourself." Happy giggled. "He's been pounded by Erza,Laxus, and even Mira back in the day. And he complains every time Mystogan comes and puts us to sleep because he's dying to get beat up again." Natsu shot him a dirty look.

Saki scowled and stopped struggling as she realized they were right. For some reason, her eyes kept being drawn back to Gray's hands on her wrists and she pulled her arms out of his hold. Her face was red. From anger. Of course – she was angry at Laxus.

_BOOM! . . . BOOM! . . . BOOM!_

Everyone looked out towards the bay.

Somebody nearby whispered, "What the heck is that thing?"

"A giant spider?" Natsu suggested. Erza shook her head, shading her eyes as she looked out across the water.

"It's…a walking island. It's Phantom Lord!"

"It's Phantom?" Bisca shrieked, "But Sensei's still with Porlyusica! We can't fight them without the Master!"

"Titania will save us!" a little boy cheered. Erza closed her eyes briefly as everyone turned to her for instruction. As the only present S-class wizard, she had the authority to issue orders.

"Maybe we didn't expect them so soon." She called, "But we will fight. We will fight for the Master, we will fight for team Shadow Gear, we will fight for our guild hall, and we will fight for the honor of Fairy Tail. We will win!"

They stood on the shore in silence, waiting for Phantom to arrive. The island sat itself down with a tremendous _boom_ and an air of finality. Jose's voice reverberated through the speakers.

"Fairy Tail." It sneered happily, "How lovely to see you all lined up for the firing squad. You don't have to do this you know. All we want are the Titania, the Dragonslayer, the shirtless ice mage, and the plant girl. Just hand them over now and we'll let you alone – you won't have to suffer the humility of being beaten by Phantom Lord twice, or see your friends defeated before your eyes." Jose's voice was silky and as slippery as an eel, but Fairy Tail didn't budge.

"We'll never let you have them!" Elfman roared up at the guild hall.

"You won't take away our family!" Mira shouted.

"Yeah, and we want revenge for everything you did to our guild!" Kana added, glaring at the speakers.

"Oui!"

Saki's heart welled with gratitude as she looked around her at all the friends she had made in Fairy Tail. _My…brothers and sisters. My new family._

"Very well." She could hear the smile in Jose's voice. "But remember, it was you who just dug your own graves."

The guild hall suddenly began to shift backwards. The ground opened up in front of it and an enormous metal thing emerged from the inside of the island. Alzack was the first to realize it for what it was.

"It's a giant cannon!"

"Yeah, but what's that behind it?" Bisca asked in confusion, taking aim at the big wooden structure that stood behind the cannon and cocking her rifle.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jose snickered, "The reflective coat on it will just send the bullet right back at you."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Bisca replied. Alzack put his hand on his sister's gun, pushing it gently downwards.

"Better not take chances, Bisca. He could be telling the truth." He said quietly.

"This is my Jupiter Cannon. In fifteen minutes, it will fire a blast to obliterate you precious town and all the surrounding area within a mile." Jose was laughing, "And the giant has already begun drawing a magic circle which it will finish in thirty minutes to obliterate all the surrounding towns. The name Phantom Lord will be feared by all after this event!"

"That's a forbidden spell! Both of them are! You're crazy!" Max, a Sand mage, yelled. That only made Jose laugh harder.

"Are you frightened, young man? And well you should be. For you will all be a bit too preoccupied to go after the Jupiter Cannon or the giant. You'll be busy dealing with some creations of mine that I'm rather proud of. I call them the Phantom Ghosts."

"Phantom Ghosts. That's redundant." Natsu muttered as about two hundred hooded, purple-black ghost-like things rose up from behind the Phantom Lord guild hall

"Erza!" Kana called, pulling out her cards from the back pocket of her pants, "You guys go for the cannon and the giant! We'll take care of these things."

"Thanks, Kana." Erza nodded, then turned to the rest of the team. "Look, it takes magic energy to make any type of magic circle – there has to be some powering that giant. I would suspect Phantom's Element four – they're a team of wizards similar to our S-class. And I'll bet anything that one of them is guarding the Jupiter Cannon. Probably the giant, too."

"How many are there?" Saki asked.

"Four. That's one for each of us."

"I'll take the Jupiter Cannon." Natsu offered, "Destroying things is _our_ specialty, not Phantom's."

"And I'll look down by the giant." Erza decided. "Saki, Gray, try to spread out and look for the other two."

"I want permission to pound Gajeel if I see him" Natsu requested.

"Only if you've already taken out the cannon and the wizard that's guarding it, if there are any." Erza allowed, "And guys, be careful."

They nodded and split in separate directions.

**up next; the chapter I've been wanting to write since I started this story: Saki vs. Juvia!**

**~icefire out**


	11. Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned

**Hiya everybody! i'm posting the last two chapters of this story right now just finishing off the Phantom War.**

**here's Saki vs. Juvia (I'm so proud of myself for thinking of the title for this chapter :3) plus a little SakixGray action., and then just a quick 639 words to wrap things up. :) plz enjoy!**

Chapter 11

Saki and Gray reached her at the same time from opposite sides. A porcelain woman dressed in blue with a petite figure and a dome shaped umbrella over her head. Saki could feel the magic energy that radiated from her. She had to be one of the Element Four.

The woman took in the two Fairy Tail mages with hardly a blink as rain fell from the sky. She looked at Gray for a moment and suddenly the rain seemed to spatter against the pavement with happy splashes, creating the pleasant air of a spring shower.

Then she turned her cornflower eyes on Saki and the sky turned gray, thunder rumbling above and the rain fell harder. Women's intuition told Saki what it meant. Through the next few moments, she and the Blue Lady exchanged a silent, mental conversation that went something like this:

_Blue Lady: He's mine._

_Saki: As if._

_Blue Lady: He's _mine_!_

_Saki: No way! I'm not giving one of my best friends into your clutches!_

_Blue Lady: So you are just friends, then?_

_Saki: Well…I guess I'd like to be… – It's none of your business, anyway!_

_Blue Lady: He doesn't like you._

_Saki: You don't even know him!_

_Blue Lady: True love speaks for itself. He is my prince. You see the way his beautiful blue eyes look at me?_

_Saki: His eyes are grey! And the only reason he's looking at you is because you're the enemy!_

_Blue Lady: It matters not. The only things that matter are the true feelings of the heart!_

_Saki: Well I've known him longer! You've seen him for ten seconds and haven't said a word to him. There's no such thing as love at first sight!_

_Blue Lady: You're too naïve. You wouldn't know._

_Saki: #$%^! #$%! #$%!_

_Blue Lady: If that's the way you feel, then we will battle. The loser must swear not to flirt, be coy, or otherwise interfere with the relationship between the winner and the subject. Agreed?_

_Saki: Deal._

_Blue Lady: For he of the beautiful blue eyes! _

_Saki: HIS EYES ARE GREY! AND HIS NAME IS GRAY!_

_Blue Lady: For Gray! I will win for you, my prince!_

_Saki: Don't bet on it_

"Drip, Drip, Drop." The Blue Lady said aloud, "I am Juvia, the Rain Woman, one of the Element Four of the Phantom Lord Guild."

Gray was already peeling off his soaked shirt, and Saki could feel her cheeks pinking so she turned away.

"Lemme take her down." He grinned at Saki. She took great pleasure in the rage that radiated from Juvia.

"No, Gray, this is my fight." She felt like she was stepping up to the plate as she and Juvia faced each other.

"What makes you think that?"

"You told me I had to pick my battles. Well, this is one that I _have_ to pick. Please don't ask why, just trust me, okay?"

He glanced first at Juvia, then at her. "Okay." He said after a moment, "But don't let her beat you. I don't know if she's more like Erza or Laxus."

"Believe me, I won't!"

"Water Scythe!" Juvia struck first, sending high-pressure discs of water towards Saki, who had to drop to the ground to avoid being sliced in half.

"Earth magic, Vines!" Saki called up her vines but Juvia didn't bat an eyelash, letting the vines pass right through her.

"Physical attacks won't harm me." She said triumphantly, "My body is made entirely of water. Water jet!"

Another blast of water came Saki's way, catching her in the stomach before she had a chance to move.

"Saki!" Gray called out.

"I'm okay! Earth Magic, Dirt storm!"

Dirt rose from the ground, enveloping Juvia in a whirlwind of soil. Saki maneuvered the dirt with her hands, raising it higher and higher into the air, making it spin faster and faster. The goal was to separate Juvia into tiny drops and fling the drops everywhere so the Rain Woman would take longer to gather herself together again. The thing eventually just ended up as a muddy mess so Saki abandoned that strategy, dropping Juvia to the ground none too gently.

When Juvia reformed, her blue outfit looked a little worse for the wear; it was splattered with mud and tiny pieces of gravel, as was her hair. "Whirlpool!" she scowled, spinning faster and faster until she created a tornado of water, heading straight for Saki.

"Quick! Get out of her way!" Gray yelled from the sidelines. Saki tried running to the left but the whirlpool followed her, so instead she melted into the pavement.

This was an excellent opportunity for Juvia, who seeped through the cracks in the pavement and wrapped herself around Saki.

_Dammit! She's trying to drown me!_

Saki struggled to float to the surface, but every time she made headway, Juvia pulled her back down again and covered her with water.

_Think, Saki, think! Photosynthesis!_

She felt around for the nearest plant, grabbing onto the roots of some weeds that were growing in the cracked pavement. Quickly, she transferred the oxygen the weeds were producing into her own bloodstream, but a few measly weeds weren't enough to sustain a human for more than about two breaths. Saki sensed around for something bigger.

Tree roots. Deep down below the surface. Saki stretched her body molecules down into a long, thin rope, glad she was able to rearrange them freely when she was underground. She wrapped around a thick tree root while Juvia struggled to keep ahold of her, finally managing to get a good grip. But it was too late. Saki had already made contact with the web of roots, giving her access to oxygen that could last for many hours.

_We can do this all day, Juvia. I won't run out of oxygen._

Finally, Juvia let go of her and they both re-formed on the surface, to the obvious relief of Gray, who had been anxiously watching the spot where they'd gone under for the past three minutes.

Rearranging molecules took a large amount of magical energy but Saki tried not to let her tiredness show as she and Juvia resumed their battle aboveground.

_I can't hurt her with vines or dirt and I can't go underground. But water evaporates. _She realized.

"Fire Magic, fire." She drew an orange magic circle, creating a ball of fire that she held in her hand. It was dim and dark orange, but it was the heat that mattered, not the color. She made it as hot as she could, grateful that she could hold it without getting burned by her own fire. Saki threw the fireball so it hung over Juvia's head, and it wasn't long before steam was rising from the Rain Woman's body.

Saki did her best to keep the fireball safe from Juvia's attempts to douse it, but she had to keep it close enough to do its job, and eventually it went out with a hissing sizzle. Juvia turned to her water form again, speeding like a bullet and hitting Saki in the chest, knocking her to the ground and winding her.

Saki coughed and finally caught her breath. She had one last trick to try. "Earth magic…tree." She whispered, putting her hands on the ground, ignoring the pain she felt in her right hand as she undid the bandages and placed it beside the left. She knew full well the cost of trying to grow a tree in the space of a few minutes – it required a tremendous amount of magic energy. If this failed, she wouldn't be able to battle any more.

Juvia's jets of water pounded on her back, the sharp edges of the discs cut her arms and face, but Saki focused. The roots came first, then she had to break through the pavement and cover Juvia's feet. Still, the water continued to leave bruises and scratches wherever it touched.

"Saki, let me help you!" Gray exclaimed in desperation.

"_No_. I told you, this is my fight."

"Why do you not fight back?" Juvia asked, finally ceasing her continuous beating of water.

"You haven't noticed yet, have you? I'm already up to your knees." Saki replied, breathing heavily. Juvia looked down to see her legs encased in rough bark and wood, and no matter how hard she tried to step out of it, or how many times she tried to take water form, her legs remained in the tree trunk.

"Stop this!" the water pounded and cut harder than before. Now Juvia was focused on stopping her. It lasted for about ten minutes before Saki built the tree up to her shoulders and Juvia could no longer draw magic circles. From there, Saki covered her head and the tree sprouted branches and leaves until finally she was done.

"Wow." Gray walked up to the tree and ran his hands along the trunk. "Is she stuck in here forever?"

Saki shook her head and tried to catch her breath. "No. she'll have reverted to water form now that she's completely encased. Right now she's running through the tree's bloodstream. She'll find her way out or break the tree open eventually, but when she does, she'll be pretty dizzy from going around in circles through the bloodstream for so long."

"That's brilliant."

"Ah." Saki collapsed on the ground.

"You used too much magic energy. Stupid girl." Gray scolded as he ran over to her. He picked her up, putting one hand behind her back and one under her knees. "We're going back to the guild right now. You need to see Doctor."

"I couldn't let her get you." Saki whispered.

"She wasn't trying to get me! She was going for you!"

Saki laughed to herself. _You have no idea._

"We should see how the battle's going." She told him.

"We will when we get there."

"I can find out faster. I can listen to what the trees are saying. They always know what's going on." Saki explained.

"No. You could've died back there, I'm not letting you use any more magic energy." Gray shook his head.

"Please. It doesn't take very much at all. Don't you want to know how everyone's doing?"

"Well…okay."

"Take me over to a tree." She had lied. Making contact with trees required a fair amount of magic energy, but she needed to know what the status report was.

Gray carried her over to a tree and Saki placed her palm on the trunk, feeling the magic energy seeping away from her. The whispers she heard would've sounded like the rants of a madman to anyone else, but Saki was able to pick out the important stuff.

"The dragon's son…that's gotta be Natsu, and a flying cat are demolishing the great man-shooter. That's a cannon. The Fey Queen – Erza, and the Beast with a Heart are both safe, and the Four of the Universe are defeated – sounds like the Element Four. The only part I didn't understand is the Beast with a Heart; do you know who that is?"

"Probably Elfman or Mirajane. They both can do full-body takeovers, though neither has in a while." He answered. Saki was starting to feel lightheaded.

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"I just realized something."

"What's that?" Gray asked, looking down at her.

"You left your shirt back there with Juvia."

Gray laughed and Saki lost consciousness, her head falling against his Fairy Tail tattoo.


	12. 702 Words in Conclusion

Chapter 12

"She's awake!" a voice cheered as Saki coughed and woke up. Happy and Mirajane were bent over her, Mira's long hair tickling her face.

"Hmph. Took you long enough." Natsu's voice drifted from somewhere not too far away, "You missed all the action!"

"What…happened? With the battle?" Saki asked, sitting up. Looking around, she saw that she was in the temporary outdoor infirmary that had been set up before the battle. She counted Erza and Gray as well as Doctor. Elfman, Max, and others were looking pretty beat up on the homemade stretchers beside her.

"After you went out Gray brought you here." Doctor scowled, "Young Lady, the amount of magic energy you used was about ten times too much – it's a wonder you even survived! I told you to try to keep from injuring yourself just yesterday and what do you do?! I swear, next time you leave the guild I'm going to tell you to break every bone in your body in the hopes that it will keep you safe."

"Don't pay attention to her." Natsu advised. "We were totally awesome! We took down the Element Four – Elfman even did a full body takeover but it took a lot out of him. But me and Happy smashed the Jupiter Cannon!"

"Natsu and I went looking for Jose but he was stronger than we were." Erza continued, "He was able to hold off the both of us at once."

"Things weren't looking too good out here either." Mira nodded, "Those ghost thingies just kept right on coming no matter how many we destroyed! Then the Master showed up."

"The Master?" Saki asked, "But when we finally contacted Porlyusica she said that she wasn't sure he would make it, and he wouldn't even be walking for at least a week."

Mira shrugged. "All we know is that he showed up totally okay and used Fairy Law to destroy Jose and the ghost thingies and then it was all over and we won!"

"And everybody else is okay?"

"Macao is in the worst shape." Doctor answered, "The Phantom Ghosts sucked away nearly all of his magic energy at once, but I think he'll pull through. Wakaba and Romeo are with him at the moment. Levy and Jet and Droy are still looking pretty bad but they've woken up and some of the healing mages at the hospital are working on them. They wouldn't let me in; they told me I wasn't authorized to work at a proper hospital! The nerve!"

"The Magic Council will certainly have something to say about all this, though. They're investigating everything right now. There's no telling who'll get the blame." Erza said darkly.

"The Master and Laki are making plans for the new guild hall." Happy did loop-di-loops in the air. "It's gonna be really cool with a pool and a game room and a café!"

"Sounds good." Saki laughed, "When are we going to start building?"

"As soon as we get this mess cleaned up and we know the Council isn't going to disband Fairy Tail." Erza replied, nonchalantly.

_What's her deal?_ Saki mouthed at everyone else.

"She's just sore because she couldn't beat Jose." Natsu waved his hand dismissively.

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Guys, break it up." Gray intruded, pushing them apart.

"Don't tell _me_ what to do, you stupid stripper!" Natsu howled.

"Don't call me stupid!" Gray replied.

"I'll call you whatever I want to!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I hope you can do better than _stupid stripper _because you're gonna need a hell of a lot more to beat me!"

"You wanna go?!"

"_You_ wanna go?"

The sight of them fighting made Saki burst into laughter. "I love you guys."

"We love you too!" Happy beamed excitedly.

Fairy Tail was a good place to be.

**the end!**

**my thanks to anyone who read this story. I know it wasn't the best but I worked hard on it and I appreciate all the people who made it to the end, or even bothered to check it out.**

**my next story will also be a Fairy Tail fic called ****Please, Call Me Loke**** coming up soon!**

**luv and Pikachus,**

**~icefire**


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